foiling the plot. authorities arrest a foreign student on charges he planned to bomb the federal reserve bank in new york city. this individual came here with the expressed purpose of committing a terrorist act. women wanted. the presidential candidates are putting the focus on winning over undecided female voters a group that could sway the election. axing armstrong after a damning report implicates him in a doping scandal, lance armstrong steps down as the head of his charity and is dropped by some of his biggest sponsors. >> this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, october 18, 2012. good morning and thank for joining us. i'm vinita nair. this morning a young bangladesh man is being held without bail

ing charged to bomb the federal reserve building here in new york. he was caught by an fbi sting operation. the fbi says he came to the u.s. intent on waging a holy war and was ready to die in the attack. >> reporter: 21-year-old quazi mohammad rezwanul ahsan nafis stood in a manhattan courthouse wednesday hours after he allegedly tried to blow up part of america's financial infrastructure. authorities say nafis wanted to detonate a bomb outside of the federal reserve bank of new york. the building where transactions from the nation's largest banks are processed and where a large reserve of gold is stored. he came to the u.s. on a student visa in january to study cyber security at southeastern missouri state university. authorities say that lasted one semester. the fbi started watching him after he tried setting up a terror cell using an online chat room and facebook. undercover agents started working with nafis posing as al qaeda operatives.

he told one agent, what i really mean is that i don't want something that's like small i just want something big. very big. his first target wall street. >> he goes to the new york stock exchange, sees there's significant security there and shifts his target to the federal reserve bank. >> reporter: undercover agents gave nafis what he thought was a 1,000 pound bomb on wednesday morning in a van but it was made of harmless materials. he then drove the van here to the federal reserve bank. he was arrested when he tried to detonate the bomb from a nearby hotel. he faces life in prison. to politics and the aggressive push for female voters. women voters are a key demographic. president obama is trying to maintain his advantage while mitt romney is making inroads. but romney may have gotten himself into a bind on tuesday night.

tonight the president and romney will be on the stage again for a long running fundraiser for charities. tara mergener is in washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. yes, this nonpolitical benefit has been going on since the end of world war ii. it's a time to put aside differences and compete for laughs instead of votes. president obama and mitt romney will be sporting black coats and white ties for the charity dinner in new york tonight. it's a chance for the candidates to have fun and tell bad jokes, like this one from president obama during the last election. >> i do love the waldorf astoria. i hear from the door step you can see all the way to the russian tea room. >> reporter: the jokes are less friendly on the campaign trail as both men battle for every vote they were focused on one group in particular wednesday, women. >> why is it that there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? this president has failed america's women.

>> reporter: president obama took a jab at romney's debate comment that he needed binders full of women to find qualified females for his cabinet position. >> i got to tell you we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified talented women. >> reporter: the campaigns are having to tailor their messages to reach female voters. that's because a new poll show women have different concerns than men when it comes to winning their support. a new gallup poll shows 39% of women in swing states say abortion is their most important issue. that's why romney has released a new ad highlighting his stance on abortion and contraceptives. >> he thinks abortion should be an option in case of rape or to save a mother's life. >> reporter: the same poll shows mitt romney trailing president obama among swing state female voters. tonight's dinner is mitt romney's only public event today. president obama campaigns in new hampshire. >> tara mergener live in washington this morning. thank you.

by the way, the television audience for tuesday's debate was slightly smaller than first. an estimated 65.6 million people watched tuesday's debate while 67 million watched the first debate. mitt romney's oldest son had something to say about the contentious nature of the debate. during an interview on a north carolina radio station, tag romney was asked how he felt when the president called his father a liar. >> you want to jump out of the seat and rush down the stage and take a swing at him. you can't do that the. because, well first there's a lot of secret service between you and him and also because this is the nature of the process. >> tag romney has taken on a bigger role in his father's campaign said all the tough talk is something you sign up for. this morning evacuation orders have been lifted in the hills of santa barbara, california where at one point a fast-moving wildfire threatened 100 homes. the lookout fire started yesterday morning and quickly spread and burning in rugged terrain making it difficult to

contain. firefighters caught a break when strong winds that were forecast never materialized. no homes were lost and the fire is 45% contained. a tentative date has been set for the trial of george zimmerman the man charged with murdering florida teen trayvon martin. he's charged with second-degree murder for the shooting of 17-year-old martin. zimmerman claims he acted in self-defense. martin was not armed. now an update on the growing meningitis outbreak. people in 15 states have been sickened. there have been at least 19 fatalities. in all 247 cases have been reported. it appears the outbreak can be traced back to contaminated steroid shots from a massachusetts pharmacy. coming up on the morning news another possible benefit of a low-carb diet. plus the power of a pill. a new study links taking a daily

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the final flight of a german military plane almost turned into a disaster. the c-160 approached the runway too low tuesday. its landing gear touched down on a road next to an airfield missing the crowd by a low feet. it bounced off the road and ended up landing safely. about 1,000 people gathered to watch. the cargo plane is headed to an air museum. a new study suggests taking a multivitamin every day may lower the risk for some cancer. the research made an about face on previous studies. >> reporter: 52-year-old mark takes a multivitamin every day. >> i felt if i could help myself, why not give myself an advantage. >> reporter: a new large long term study of middle aged and older men find taking a multivitamin daily reduces the

overall risk of cancer 8%. researchers say the reduction may sound small but its significant. >> even an 8% reduction can have a profound impact in terms of our long term health and longevity. >> reporter: many studies of individual vitamins found that they don't improve health and in some cases even cause harm. researchers believe multivitamins may help because they contain a combination of vitamins and minerals similar to what you find eating the right amount of fruits and vigilante tables. >> they might not get in their diets, a, b, c and e is important. extra iron is important. >> reporter: 1/3 of u.s. adults take a multivitamin regularly. most users are over 50. the only cancer multivitamins didn't have an effect on is prostate cancer. he hopes the study encourages others to take supplements. >> every man should have the understanding that multivitamins can help. >> reporter: whether the results extend to women and younger

adults remain to be seen. edward lawrence for cbs news, los angeles. a separate study suggests a diet high in pasta, bread and other complex carbohydrates may lead to mild cognitive impairment. a precursor to alzheimer. diets higher in proteins and fats have less of a chance of developing problems. straight ahead this morning, your thursday morning weather and in sports, intensity in the wnba finals as a coach loses her cool. the wnba finals as a coach loses her cool. vitamin d, done! hand sanitizer, done! hey, eric! i'm here for my flu shot. sorry, didn't make an appointment. well, you don't need one. whether it's flu shots or prescriptions, we continue to accept express scripts and medco plans. i'm bonnie, and this is my cvs.

and every day since, two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year. bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger.

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, partly sunny 68 degrees., miami, chance of a thunderstorm, 87. chicago, afternoon thunderstorms, 58 degrees. dallas, sunny, 78. los angeles, mostly sunny at 90 degrees. let's check your national forecast. dry from new england to virginia. rain is likely from western new york to west virginia. mostly sunny, dry weather will extend from the lower mississippi valley to texas. the deep south will be stormy and very windy from the northern and central plains to the ohio valley and northern and central rockies. on the cbs moneywatch a sign of recovery for the housing market. and some tax troubles for starbucks. ashley morrison is here in new york with more on that. >> reporter: good morning. asian markets rallied this morning after china's gdp figures suggest the worst of their economic slow down may be

over. tokyo's nikkei gained 2% to finish at a three week high while hang seng added half of a percent. housing construction surged and that could give the weak economy a needed boost. the commerce department said on wednesday groundbreaking on new single family homes and apartments started at the fastest rate in more than four years. the increase is driven partly by low mortgage rates. despite the strong housing report wall street stocks closed only modestly higher. the dow jones industrial was up five points while the nasdaq advanced two points. er and airlines will higher flight attendants. american is in bankruptcy but needs to fill jobs. 1500 jobs will be filled. salaries for the new hires will be less than the $45,000 average paid to current flight attendants. in britain two parliamentary

committees want to know why starbucks didn't pay taxes on almost $2 billion on sales. starbucks told investors that its british unit was highly profitable. at the same time it told british tax authorities the unit was losing money and not required to pay tax. starbucks said it paid its taxes to the letter of the law. a picture perfect final story. many of you may be seeing this broadcast as clear as it gets that's because the nielsen company says more than three quarters of the nation's home have high-definition televisions. five years ago only 11% of the nation's home had hi-def tv. that's a big leap for technology. that means we need good lighting and makeup. >> ashley morrison here in new york. thank you. in your sports news this morning, weather cancelled one major league playoff game and delayed another.

game four of the american kmoip -- championship was postponed due to rain. rain halted play between the cardinals and the giants. jason motte gets the final out. st. louis gets 3-1 and takes a 2-1 series league. the wnba finals turn out to be a heated match-up between minnesota and indiana. in game, two lindsay whalen gets packed in the lane but no call from the ref. her coach loses it. the team ended up winning 83-71. and while one coach gets her team fired up another is planning nap time for his players. northwestern football coach asked his team about their sluggish performance against boston college last month. and the players said kick-off time was at the same time of the day when they were normally napping. so he scheduled a pre-nap before northwestern's game against nebraska this week.

>> should be taking a nap at 9:30 saturday morning so we're in our comfort zone. we feel good. our nap matters. >> and, yes, nap time is mandatory. it's even on the team's official itinerary. when we come back the latest set backs for lance armstrong. he is dumped by some major sponsors in the latest doping allegations.

the night sky that has peope buzzing this morning. plus: a terror suspect is arrested for allegedly plotg to blow up the new york fedl reserve . how police foiled the plan. and down 2 to 1. the giants fall to the cardinals aftera 3-hour rain delay. join us for cbs 5 eyewitness news this morning... beginng at 4:30. good morning. it's thursday,

,,,, here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. washington, chance of a thunderstorm, 70. atlanta, morning thunderstorms, 73. st. louis, early sunny, windy, 65 degrees. denver, sunny 65, and seattle cloudy 62 degrees. there is more fallout for cyclist lance armstrong.

last week a report was released on armstrong's use of banned drugs to win the tour de france. on wednesday he stepped down as chairman of his cancer fighting charity. now several sponsors have cut their ties with him. >> reporter: the seven time tour de france winner and nike were inseparable for more than ten years. nike said today due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that armstrong participated in doping and misled nike for more than a decade it is with great sadness we terminated our contract with him. armstrong said he was stepping down to spare the foundation of any negative effect. as as result of controversy surrounding by cycling compare. kathryn mclean is a spokesperson for live strong. >> we're concerned and that's one of the reasons why lance made the decision that he announced today, stepping away as chairman and allowing new leadership to steer this organization. >> reporter: since 1997 live

strong has raised nearly half a billion dollars. the foundation says its purpose is not research, but instead helping cancer survivors with employment and financial concerns, insurance problems and access to care. particularly in developing nations. >> critics say i'm a doper. >> reporter: endorsements like the ones he lost today have made armstrong one of the world's richest athlete. over the last ten years he's made more than an estimated $100 million. in 2005 armstrong was suing a company in a contract dispute over a $5 million bonus after winning his sixth straight tour. in a sworn deposition he denied allegations of doping. >> if you have a doping offense, it follows you and it goes without saying you're fired from all of your contracts. there's numerous contracts that i have. all of that would be erased.

i don't need it to be in a contract. it's not as important as losing support of hundreds of millions of people. report the international cycling union has until the end of the month to strip armstrong of his titles and it may trigger an avalanche of lawsuits from sponsors and business partners. >> it was an unlikely rescue at sea by any measure. glenn eye was adrift for 16 hours in a sinking sail boat 270 miles off of australia. an air canada plane picked up his emergency signal. a pilot flew as low as 4,000 feet as 270 passengers and crew searched the seas. he was spotted and picked up by the coast guard. coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning" more on that study of multivitamins and

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the oracle racing crew is vowing to bounce back after their $8 million catamaran can sized on san francisco bay. it was the first time this type of craft capsized. the 12 story wing span was destroyed in a training run for the america's cup. the vessel was swept away by a strong current more than four miles by the san francisco golden gate bridge. over the years the competition has evolved into an extreme sport. that's thanks to modern technology and design. as john blackstone reports racers hope the high seas pace will help draw new fans. >> reporter: the million dollar sail boats racing in san francisco bay often narrowly

miss each other and sometimes come dangerously close to capsizing. speed and danger are bringing new excitement to an old sport. >> this is not your grandfather's sail boat. >> definitely no. the speed and the technicality, everything happens so fast. >> reporter: travis rice knows plenty about speed. he's a professional snowboarder, an x games champion who pushed to get on board one of the new style racing boats used to train crews for next year's america's cup competition. >> i think that this new approach is going to give a lot of the younger generation a bit of whiplash when they really are able to connect and see what's going on there. >> reporter: to reach new fans the america's cup organization is hoping to capture tv viewers by putting live cameras and microphones right on the boats. viewers get an up close look at the action, even the occasional man overboard. on screen the same kind of electronic tricks used in other

televised sports help explain what's going on although nonsailors may still be left baffled. the boats themselves are new too. equipped with huge upright wings these catamarans maneuver on a tight course traveling up to 35 miles per hour. fast enough to impress even a champion snowboarder. >> i see the faces of those guys when i was out riding along and everyone is sweating bullets doing everything they can. they are athletes. >> reporter: right now they are training for the main event, the america's cup competition next summer on san francisco bay. the boats will be twice as big and a third faster. the boats have become so expensive to build america's cup sailors are hoping tv can guarantee the future. john blackstone, cbs news, san francisco.

>> coming up after your local news on cbs "this morning," the latest on the plot to blow up the federal reserve in new york city. john miller has an update on what he's learned from the fbi. plus an interview with the mother of slain u.s. ambassador chris stevens. she will talk about his legacy. that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. i'm vinita nair. have a great day. ,,,,,,

>> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald hi, good morning. it's thursday, october 18. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now just about 4:30. now here's lawrence with a check on the weather. >> yeah. weather looking good around the bay area. yesterday sunshine all the way to the coastline. today, what a day it's going to be. another hot one inland. warm